ECW '01 - A World in Jeopardy

ECW on MTV #15
Friday, August 19th, 2001
Attendance: 1,226 – Citi Performing Arts Center – Boston, Massachussets, USA
TV Rating: 0.92 on MTV

---

[font color="701983"DARK MATCH:
BALLS MAHONEY DEF. JASON KNIGHT – PIN – 4:36
RATING: 24[/font][/b]

---

FULL-SHOW RECAP

>> WORLD TITLE PICTURE CONFRONTATION LEADS TO A BIG MAIN EVENT
>> This week’s show started out strong. Chris Kanyon opened the episode in the ring to, once again, compliment Steve Corino (this time for last week’s attack on Mike Awesome) and revive his invitation for Corino to join the Insurance of Quality.
>> Corino came to the ring, reminding Kanyon that he’s ‘His Own Man’, both will be rivals tomorrow and he simply doesn’t need anyone. In fact, Corino vowed to prove the world he’s the only worthy contender for the ECW World Title tomorrow at Hard Hits.
>> Enter the champion: Awesome interrupted the dialogue to tell Corino that he feels like he’s, in fact, the worthy contender, because he’s the only one who Awesome didn’t beat since May… plus, since last week, the champion has some extra motivation to kick his ass. About Kanyon, Awesome said he was a coward, since he was all-talk-no-work when in a 1-on-1 situation.
>> Spike Dudley got to the ring. Kanyon and Corino both laughed at Little Spike, who’ll share the ring with them tomorrow. Spike told Awesome not to forget about him, specially since they have some personal issues to solve, as Spike never got his revenge on Awesome for attacking his girlfriend the past year. Awesome recognized that and apologized, but Spike didn’t accept him and kept bashing the champion in an emotional tone. Kanyon and Corino watched, until…
>> Shane McMahon cut Spike’s heart-pouring words, claiming he had an idea for tonight’s main event: it will be Chris Kanyon and Steve Corino vs. Mike Awesome and Spike Dudley! Kanyon was very happy, Spike was furious.


MATCH #1 – ECW WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP – 10 MIN. TIME LIMIT
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS © (w/SINISTER MINISTER) vs. CHRIS CHETTI
For the opener, Christopher Daniels had his first TV Title defense. Against an ECW alumni who came back for the night, nonetheless. Chetti brought his intensity, but couldn’t take the title, as Daniels dominated most of the match as the Minister reacted positively, and retained following an Angel’s Wings on a small pile of chairs.
RESULT: CHRISTOPHER DANIELS DEF. CHRIS CHETTI – PIN – STILL CHAMPION! – 5:50
RATING: 39

>> FIRST VICTIM SPIKED + MIKEY HAS AN ALLY
>> The gruesome part was left for the post-match, as we got to know that Sinister Minister wants to put the spike he stole from Ms. Taken to use. At least he did after the match, as Daniels celebrated, spiking Chris Chetti and drawing blood from his head.
>> Mikey Whipwreck stopped the madness, getting to the ring in a hurry and showing no fear. He claimed that along the years in ECW, he learned to be fearless and that isn’t stopping now that Minister’s on his path. Then, he challenged Minister and Daniels for a tag team match at Hard Hits tomorrow! The manager questioned Mikey: “A tag match? [imagine an evil laughter] But where’s your good buddy Tajiri?”
>> Mikey answered that Tajiri won’t be his teammate. Instead, he will open his arms to team-up with a mysterious hungry young man that claimed, on a letter, to be an outcast who learned to feel inspired by Mikey over the years. Mikey proceeded to read the letter as Minister seemed intrigued with the identity of his former client’s partner.

>> CROWBAR VOWS TO OWN GIBSON
>> Crowbar had another promo from a dark place to build up his Dog Collar Match against Jamie Gibson. This time, Crowbar said he’s going to own Gibson while dragging him around the ring. And then, after getting some fair good revenge, he’s going to rename Gibson, calling him Cerberus, like the hound of where Crowbar comes from: hell.


MATCH #2 – ECW JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (HIGHLIGHTS)
SUPER CRAZY © vs. DICK TOGO [M-PRO]
From Michinoku-Pro, we got to see the highlights of a nice back-and-forth and very fast-paced match between Super Crazy and Dick Togo for the Jr. Heavyweight Championship. Togo looked close to take the belt, but in the end Crazy retained with a Crazy Bomb and will is heading back to the United States with the gold.
RESULT: SUPER CRAZY DEF. DICK TOGO – PIN – STILL CHAMPION! – 12:08
RATING: 46

>> HEYMAN ANNOUNCES SUPER CRAZY’S NEXT CHALLENGER
>> In his office, Paul Heyman some mere three weeks after its creating, the ECW Jr. Heavyweight Championship is now a World Championship as well, after being defended In a different continent. Then, he announced that Super Crazy will, as announced, be defending his title tomorrow night at Hard Hits Vol. 2. And his opponent also hails from Japan, being a close friend to Dick Togo: former WWF Light Heavyweight Champion, Taka Michinoku!

>> SKIPPER: STEPPING UP TO LYNN
>> Back in the ring, we had someone answering Jerry Lynn’s call-out from two weeks ago. Even though he’s not really one of the youngest guys on the roster, he felt like he has something to prove and so he wants to face one of the most respected wrestlers in ECW. Lynn showed up and the match will take place next.

MATCH #3
ELIX SKIPPER vs. JERRY LYNN
It was a good match, but could’ve been a little better, as the two didn’t fully click. Skipper showed some good flashy moves and even brought a ladder to the ring, hitting an impressive Corkscrew Moonsault for only a near-fall. In the end, Lynn ended up being victorious after an Air Raid Crash on the ladder followed by a Cradle Piledriver.
RESULT: JERRY LYNN DEF. ELIX SKIPPER – PIN – 8:11
RATING: 55

>> GIBSON: ASSAULTING HIS OWN NEIGHBOR
>> Jamie Gibson keeps digging some new lows. He cut a promo in his trailer park, describing exactly how he’s going to beat Crowbar and drag him across all four corners of the ring to win the Dog Collar Match. He claimed he wished to show the ECW fans how he’s doing it because they’re too dumb to understand without a visual presentation…
>> And that’s exactly what he did after seeing a skinny neighbor of his leaving his own trailer. Gibson smirked and attacked him from behind before pushing him to a rudimental backyard wrestling ring. There, Gibson took a dog collar off his jean shorts’ pocket and put it on his neighbor, dragging him across the corners, shouting: “This is how it’s gonna be, Crowbar! 1…2…3…4!”

>> HEYMAN AND MCMAHON DISCUSS THE DIAMOND BODIES’ JEOPARDY
>> In the office again, Paul Heyman was, this time, accompanied by Shane McMahon. The two talked about the show briefly before Heyman brought to the conversation the theme of the Diamond Bodies’ wager in tomorrow’s Ultimate Jeopardy match. McMahon told Heyman to leave it to him, because if Candido and Diamond don’t pick their own wager, Shane himself will.

MATCH #4
CHRIS CANDIDO & SIMON DIAMOND [DIAMOND BODIES] (w/DAWN MARIE & TAMMY LYNN SYTCH) vs. CHRISTIAN YORK & JOEY MATTHEWS [YOUNG BLOOD] (w/JOEL GERTNER)
The Diamond Bodies then faced one of ECW’s youngest duos in a somewhat exciting match that was given enough time to show York and Matthews a bit more. Gertner’s interactions with both Dawn and Tammy were funny and entertaining and while Gertner distracted the Bodies first, the sneakiness of both valets proved important in the end when Tammy distracted the opposition’s manager and Dawn hit a low blow in both members of the Young Blood before the duo hit the Body Play Powerbomb on York for the win.
RESULT: SIMON DIAMOND DEF. CHRISTIAN YORK – PIN – 6:28
RATING: 49

>> BRAWL OVER JEOPARDY LEADS TO HUGE RETURN
>> After the match, Joel Gertner was pissed but ended up leaving the ring with his boys. The Diamond Bodies, though, grabbed a mic. Simon, always the cockiest of the two, bragged about having convinced The Sandman to accept his team’s wager for tomorrow’s match (there wasn’t much convincing, really) and even bashed him, stating that a life of addictions has messed his brains completely.
>> Enter… Sandman! And Tommy Dreamer. Both got to the ring in an aggressive mood, but they didn’t assault their rivals. Instead, they criticized the Bodies’ reluctance to pick their own wager, “(…) or those bitches’ reluctance to pick the wager, since they’re the ones with the balls in your clique!”, said Tommy for a massive pop and to start a big brawl! The brawl lasted for a bit before, of course, Sunny Dawn interfered in behalf of their boyfriends, who then dominated Dreamer and Sandman for a bit, busting Tommy open with a chair shot.
>> Dawn then took Diamond’s baseball bat from under the ring and Diamond prepared to hit Dreamer’s ribs, like he did to Justin Credible weeks ago. That’s when everybody was shocked: Beulah McGillicutty rushed to the ring! Tommy’s girlfriend took out both Sunny Dawn and the brawl was fair again, until some low blows by Diamond and Candido gave them the upper hand again.
>> The two had Beulah by the hair and there was nothing Dreamer and Sandman could do. But someone could! The Impact Players rushed to Beulah’s aid! Even Francine, her fiercest longtime rival. Both ran the Bodies off.

>> MCMAHON ANNOUNCES THE DIAMOND BODIES’ JEOPARDY
>> They were stopped from leaving by Shane McMahon, though! The boss had some bad news for Candido and Diamond: since they hadn’t pick their own wager for tomorrow’s Ultimate Jeopardy, he would. Shane noticed straight away how dependent from Tammy and Dawn the Diamond Bodies actually were, since the valets assisted them in all of the matches they won as a team. Tomorrow would be different, though: they will be at ringside but not get physically involved.
>> But, Shane announced, it could be the last time that… one of the valets would be seen at the ringside of an ECW ring. And that’s because if one of the Diamond Bodies takes the fall, his respective valet and girlfriend will leave ECW forever!
>> Chris Candido and Simon Diamond were shocked, and so were their valets. Candido begged him to reconsider, as Diamond and the girls were more hot-headed. Those watching in the ring had a laugh, even bloody Dreamer.

MATCH #5
CHRIS KANYON & STEVE CORINO (w/C.W. ANDERSON & SEAN O’HAIRE) vs. MIKE AWESOME & SPIKE DUDLEY
After a brief break, it was time for the main event. It was Corino’s first match after roughly two months and he wasn’t exactly happy with his partner, but neither was Spike, the ragdoll of the bout for most part. As usual, Kanyon and the members of the I.Q. at ringside tried to purify the match, removing weapons of the ring, which didn’t settle well with Corino, who got into arguments with his teammate, even refusing to tag Kanyon in sometimes.
At ringside, when Kanyon was legal, Corino had an argument with Anderson and O’Haire too, with Anderson even slapping him. Corino seemed to shrug it off, but took a table from under the ring. The two thought the table was to set in the ring, but instead he threw it at them, put it in the ring and abandoned Kanyon afterwards… to Awesome’s delight. The champion beat Kanyon up and hit an Awesome Bomb through the leaned table for the easy win.
RESULT: MIKE AWESOME DEF. CHRIS KANYON – PIN – 7:25
RATING: 65

>> SPIKE REFUSES AWESOME’S HANDSHAKE
>> After the match, it can be said that C.W. Anderson and Sean O’Haire thought about confronting the winners: Mike Awesome and Spike Dudley. But they didn’t, instead taking their leader Chris Kanyon to the back. In the ring, the ECW World Champion, Mike Awesome, offered his hand for Spike Dudley to shake. He didn’t, instead slapping Awesome’s hand before flipping him off.

FINAL RATING: 62

---

BOOKER’S NOTES:
>> Ok, we’re heading to Hard Hits Vol. 2: Ultimate Jeopardy (you must not forget its name) and we had a pretty solid show (from the writer’s perspective), as I’m really liking the booking choices I’m making. I know, I should be modest… I didn’t like some angle ratings that much, but I kinda expected most of them.

---